Explanation: The judge in a military commission or a court-martial is a senior military officer and lawyer who is trained and certified to be a Military Judge.
The members in a military commission, who play a role similar to that of a jury in civilian trials, are active duty commissioned officers in the U.S. military. They are selected by the Convening Authority for Military Commissions from a list of nominations received from each military service. The Convening Authority must select members who are the best-qualified by reason of age, education, training, experience, length of service, and judicial temperament.
In courts-martial, the members are active duty commissioned officers selected by the convening authority from within the command of the service member facing court-martial. The accused may also request that he or she be tried by a mixed panel of commissioned officers and enlisted service members.
In military commissions and courts-martial where the death penalty is not an authorized punishment, there must be no fewer than 5 members on the panel. In capital cases, there must be no fewer than 12, except in very limited circumstances. In courts-martial, a service member may request that he or she be tried by the military judge alone. All military commissions cases have panels of members.
In Article III Court, jurors are randomly selected citizens of the jurisdiction where the court sits. A judge determines whether they are qualified to be jurors. "Qualified" means over 18 years of age, able to read, write, understand and speak English proficiently, not incapable of sitting as a juror by reason of mental or physical infirmity, and not charged with or previously convicted of a felony offense. Each jury has 12 jurors. A defendant in Article III Court may request to be tried by the judge alone.
Sources:
MCA 2009, 10 U.S.C. § 949m(c)
Rules for Military Commissions 501(a)(2)-(3), 501(a), 503(a)
UCMJ art.25a, 10 U.S.C. § 825a
Rules for Courts-Martial 501(a)(1)(B), R.C.M. 502(a), 503(a)